Wednesday, April 1, 2015

41

Published: 19/03/2012 01:09 PM

Adieu, Hezbollah

Since its inception, Hezbollah has probably not experienced such a nightmare. Of course, the Syrian regime is crumbling, and that is the core of Hezbollah’s trouble, but locally, its aura seems to be fading as well. Without that appeal, the party cannot hold up. Is the end near?

There is no good reason why Hezbollah leaders should not be panicking. The winds of change coming from the northern borders are going to turn everything upside down for the Party of God. Its friends are either losing credibility or just moving away from the party of double standards. Meanwhile, the ludicrous stances and hasty behavior of its leaders are costing the party its main support base: the Lebanese Shia community.

Let’s take a closer look. In his many redundant speeches, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has been adamant about supporting the Assad regime of Syria. A few years ago, when Nasrallah made a speech, almost everyone in Lebanon would leave whatever they were doing to listen to what he had to say. His words made headlines and caused serious transformations on the Lebanese political scene. Today, we stopped bothering for two reasons. One, he says almost nothing new; and two, he does not seem capable of understanding the real transformations taking place in the region.

On a more crucial level, reports of Hezbollah fighters’ bodies being returned from doing battle in Syria over the past few months, although not technically verified till now, have caused a feeling of bitterness among the supporters of the “Resistance.” Resisting Israel is one thing, but killing innocent Syrian women and children is something else.

But that’s not all. As the Syrian revolution unfolds, Hezbollah’s main support base, the Shia community, keeps being reminded by the party that it is the most virtuous, most spotless and most righteous in the region.

The Party of God supports a dictator and his band of murderers. And recently, according to a number of emails revealed by the Guardian newspaper, Assad and his gang have outed themselves as stupid, corrupt and drowning in vanity. Assad, a “supporter of the resistance,” as Hezbollah constantly describes him to justify its backing of the regime, is spending his time shopping for extravagant stuff and looking at naked photos online.

Hezbollah members and their families are similarly being accused of corruption and abusing their power to get richer. Recently, Hesham and Jihad al-Moussawi – brothers of Hezbollah MP Hussein Moussawi – went into hiding after they were accused of producing and distributing drugs, according to Lebanese channel MTV. At the same time, in South Lebanon, people started referring to Hezbollah as the Taliban after it banned the sale of alcohol in many southern towns and cities.

On the political level, when the current cabinet was formed, everyone perceived it as Hezbollah-controlled. It was thought that the party controlled the PM and all ministers. Today, Prime Minister Najib Mikati cannot be considered completely under Hezbollah’s control.

Mikati’s under-the-table support for Syrian refugees in Tripoli and his recent stances in support of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon gave him a rather autonomous image, whether or not it is accurate.

As for Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, it is needless to say that his recent stances vis-à-vis the Syrian regime have gained him more credibility among the Syrian and Lebanese who are against both Assad and Hezbollah.

Jumblatt has certainly made a slow but complete turn against the Syrian regime, which means that, as one of the main politicians who determines the political majority in Lebanon, he is stepping outside the orbit of Hezbollah.

On the anniversary of his father’s death on Friday, Jumblatt made a move that won him a surge of support inside Syria and Lebanon. The act of placing the Syrian Revolution’s flag on the grave of his father, “who was assassinated by the Syrian regime… [relieved my] conscience,” Jumblatt told Al-Arabiya television station on Sunday. “The [Syrian] regime has come to an end,” he added.

The recent statement by the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah al-Azzam brigade about Jumblatt also does not bode well for Hezbollah. Azzam said that the brigade, which the government has accused of forming a terrorist cell within the Lebanese Armed Forces to carry out attacks against the army, had received an offer by Hezbollah and the Syrian regime to “assassinate Druze leader MP Walid Jumblatt in return for the release of a number of jihadists in Syrian jails.”

So there goes Jumblatt, Hezbollah’s most precious win since the May events of 2008. In terms of the upcoming parliamentary elections of 2013, the future looks grim for the Party of God.

Hezbollah is less popular today, locally and regionally, than it was a year ago. It is corrupt and supports a dictator, and its leader is not as charismatic as he used to be. It is losing its allies and becoming the subject of jokes by its enemies. No one in their right mind wants to be close to Hezbollah now; it is like the bully at school who no one likes but fears. But eventually, the bully loses his aura and we move on.

Although Hezbollah’s own crumbling is going to take some time, due to its possession of arms and power over state institutions, there are undoubtedly a number of serious threats to its power.

Hezbollah's fan base is just as loyal and supportive to Hezbollah's cause and political figures as ever before.
The writers on this website are skewed and biased.

April 18, 2012

Mr. X

hizbullah will NEVER EVER end.
END OF UR STORY!
We are a whole nation, try & break us ;)

March 26, 2012

MsMice

Thank God finally the rest of the Lebanese are awaking to what most have known all along. Truely God is real & He is showing His face to the whole earth

March 25, 2012

ali daoud

Mazen, yes, are you suprised to know that the HRW as well as all other western organizations are biased and motivated by political agendas? why it took the HRW one year to report the syrian opposition crimes? why today? why it took place only after the west and the east agreed that there is no solution but the political solution and in the presence of Bashar? why today when the USA said it openly that there is no way to go for a military solution against Bashar in the absence of a UN resolution? why today after the USA said it cannot send weapons to the syrian opposition because those weapons will go to el Qaeda operating in syria?!!! as i said, the HRW reports 10% of the opposition crimes and one year late, what do u call that? objectivity?!!!!

March 23, 2012

ali daoud

Omar, halla2 baddak te3melle yaha 7ommos bet7ene?!!! what logic lead you to conclude that HA and Iran are not enemies to israel?!! if they are not, then who is? qatar and saudi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt who will respect Camp David and who still pass by the israeli embassy in Cairo?!!! if HA who fought and paid dearly in his wars against israel is not an enemy to israel (in your logic), then who is? moreover, sho khass el ethna3ashareye bhal mawdou3? who supported the Palestinians in the last decades in their resistance other than Iran and HA? who is still paying their wages and weapons? honestly, i have no time to prove to you that water is nothing but water!

March 22, 2012

mazen

Majd, so in your "mind" HRW is biased when it reports on the Syrian government's atrocities but not when reporting on the opposition's. Was it also biased when it reported on Syrian atrocities in Lebanon? How about the Israeli atrocities in Palestine and in Lebanon or the US atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan? Everyone saw the horrific videos of the opposition's atrocities Mr Muallem showed them to us, he chocked with emotions it was very touching. Especially the lynching he said of an Syrian security man by the terrorists in Syria. Of course the man was an Egyptian in Lebanon, I understand Hafez Assad's magic formula of one people in two nations but I did not realize Egyptians were part of the one people. Even your friend the AngryArab thinks that of course, there is no mystery there the regime of the Syrian despot has killed far more than the opposition is he biased too or maybe now he's a pro western Zionist.

March 22, 2012

Karido

I have expecteed something more concrete from the managing editor of NOW Lebanon. Her report seemed like collected uneditted newspaper clips either sent to pritinging by mistake or maybe that is her editting strength at best.

March 22, 2012

Yasmine

1- Obviously the writer is not a big fan of Hezbollah, and i respect that just like i respect the supporters of this party but what i don't respect is those who are defending the regime or the Syrian oppositions.... PEOPLE have you been to Syria? Do you really know what's going on there? WELL nobody knows except for Syrians… and since we’re Lebanese we should be a bit more Realistic and care more about our country not what's going on in Syria.
2- I don't care who governs Lebanon as long as i have the minimum of rights like electricity and water. so whether it's ”Adieu to Hezbollah” and the government they created or “Adieu to March 14” we shouldn’t really care because none of those cared about our country and ohhhhh I have a LOONGGGG list of the terrible things they did the last few decades.

March 22, 2012

alsidani

a- the speeches of mr nasrallah long time ago became boring since he tried to link the murder of rafic hariri to an israely plane over lebanon ,complete non sense 9000 time the israely violated lebanese space in the lastsix year
b-he never take anyblame always america and israel rethorics that nums the masses for 60 years,become boring after a while
c-yes the leader of ha are corrupted by so much money pouring from iran whithout wich they coudnt be in power
d-they support a sinister individual called bashar who is using chechenya strategy of the russian to bomb innocent civilian to death, the disater of kana village on a daily base
e-they support an iranian regime that stiffle any human right ,that stone people ,that incarcerate any opposion ,that shoot at innocent demonstrator ha militia is designed as the basheji that club women children to death ,ha was sweating it in the spring 09 then remember ?
f-they dont hesitate to use fear annd their arms against lebanese not israel

March 21, 2012

ali daoud

MOHAMAD, first dear, sorry to tell you, Sayyed Hassan has enough fans, he surely doesn`t need you or cares about you. second, in case you blame Sayyed Hassan for your claim that he supports a ruthless regime, is your syrian opposition any better? if you need me to tell you about the crimes against humanity committed by your terrorist syrian opposition then you are in deep moral trouble! those crimes have been committed since the first month and not since the HRW reported it this week, and those crimes include masacring complete villages and families, torturing regime supporters, kidnapping and raping and slaughtering civilians like goats, and the HRW has only uncovered 10% of those terrorist acts. Aren`t you ashamed of such opposition ya Mohamad? my position is that foreign enemies of syria have intervened and used syrian demands for reforms in order to send their money and weapons to be used to destroy syria and surely not to bring democracy to syria, sure not through saudi and qatar.

March 21, 2012

ali daoud

MAZEN, the importance in HRW statement lies in the fact that, one, such biased organizations usually report 10% of the atrocities done by the syrian opposition, while it means to exaggerate the atrocities done by the regime. the syrian terrorist opposition have been masacring innocents in syria since the first month and i have videos about them, however, it took the HRW one year to report about atrocities and crimes committed by the opposition since 11 months!!! the regime tried since day one to minimize the civilians loss and that`s why it took him almost one year to take back small neighbourhoods, if the regime was careless about the civilians then he would smashed the opposition in the cities in one month not one year. second, the importance of the HRW statement is in neutralizing your accusation to the regime, if it is true what you claim about the regime atrocities, then what is the difference between the regime and the opposition after what we knew on the opposition crimes?!!!

March 21, 2012

Anri

Israel warnedn Hizbollah that missiles atack on Israel will lead to the distruction of Lebanon. Get rid of Hizbullah or the Hizbullah will get rid of you and lead to Lebanon destruction. What a shame.

March 21, 2012

الى سالم

@majd HA and Iran represents a less valid and less authentic form of Islam which is in favor of Israel and for that they will never be Israel's enemy. Ithnay 3ashariya has deviated so much from Islam that now they are on Israel's side. So stop pretending to be an Islamic resistance and stop fighting a war which is not yours. Please publish

March 21, 2012

Don Cox

"For so many years the majority of Muslims ( sunny and Shiite ) was praying to see a strong leader who can lead to victory after another. " (Mohammed)
Many people make this mistake. In practice, these Great Leaders are just dictators, who often look good for a few years. Their driving motive is the urge for power.

March 21, 2012

Lord Haw-Haw

HEP, check out thirty years of Syrian murders, kidnappings, lie and dishonesty in Lebanon.

March 21, 2012

Hep

Lord Haw-Haw, Syrian regime cannot be more dishonest than the regime of Bush Junior. Check this out: “What Every American Should Know About Iraq” By David Michael Green

March 21, 2012

Lord Haw-Haw

HEP the Syrian regime is one of the most dishonest regimes on the planet as we have witnessed here in Lebanon, but you want us to believe it's stale mythology ahead of some of the most reliable and reputable news organizations and reporters around, seriously? Did you see Walid Muallen's videos. The guy sat there and with a straight face told the whole world one bold-faced lie after another without batting an eye, I think that speaks volumes. Certainly more revealing about the true character and truthfulness of the Syrian regime than anything you or the other apologists could spin. Defending the regime betrays your total lack of analytical and critical faculties when it comes to Syria. BTW The Guardian is slowly exposing the Western journalists on Assad's payroll, some are even spying on their fellow reporters.

March 21, 2012

Hep

Western journalists have learnt nothing from 10 years of spinning the '9/11' and ‘9/11’ wars and have collectively abandoned their analytical and critical faculties when it comes to Syria….See: “Syria and the Western Media: Peddling Mythologies in the Garden of Good and Evil” By Matt Carr . See also You Tube videos: 'Lizzie Phelan: PART 1: Addounia TV Exposes Insurgents Fabrications about Syrian Government "Massacres" Broadcast by Mainstream Media'

March 21, 2012

George

indeed Hizbullah has lost much of its credibility from resistance to being charged with the assassination of Rafik Hariri to attacking west beirut and the mountains in may 2008 to supporting Assad regime in his crimes against the syrian people .To add more,many of his leaders turned out to be like the rest of other lebanese leaders corrupted and doing anything but being close to God.

March 21, 2012

Hassan

Majd, stop the festivity and joy knowing that some rebels have kidnapped, tortured etc. Even though, Human rights distinguishes in the timing and that it is not anywhere near what Bashar did, I still believe it is wrong. It is still a criminal act by some rebels even if under the law it is considered crime of passion. The Human Rights stated that some did it; and Some doesn’t mean All. I will try to give you examples so you can see my point. Examples of Some: when some members from HA were accused of conspiring with the CIA, it doesn’t mean all. When some of HA members smuggled money, it doesn’t mean all. When some are accused of killing Rafik, it doesn’t mean all. An Example of All is when Nasrallah speak on behalf of HA members saying he supports Bashar and nothing about children dying. It is when HA with weapons showed in the streets on May 2008, now that’s all. I hope now you can see the difference.

March 21, 2012

Mohammed

Thank you Hanin for this very true article. For so many years the majority of Muslims ( sunny and Shiite ) was praying to see a strong leader who can lead to victory after another. I was one of so many who used to see Hassan Nasrallah as the dream leader. I used to record his speech and listen to it over and over.The Arab spring revealed the true face of H.A.the double standard the way they talk about Bahrain where about thirty people killed or died. and supporting the Syrian regime who commit daily massacre and killed over 7000 people. Nasrallah we have lost our faith in you, we don't believe you any more, and we're with the Syrian people till they achieve their victory.

March 21, 2012

to be fair

Congratulation Majd HRW accused your your Syrian terrorist hero Bashar of criminal acts on, Mar 15, 13 2012; Feb 3, 9, 10, 22, 29; Jan 11, 20; Dec 18, 19; Nov 11, 21; Oct 5; Sep 8, 14, 27; Aug 15, 19, 24, 25, 29; Jul 6, 9, 20; Jun 1, 2011... to name a few. You can find more if you like. If you get the jitter and decide to look beyond 2011 you can find hundreds and hundreds of HRW statements on the atrocities your Syrian terrorist regime heroes have committed in Lebanon the country you unsuccessfully keep claiming to live in. Majd you must be the unluckiest guy in the world and If it wasn't for bad luck, you wouldn't have no luck at all.

March 20, 2012

mazen

Human Rights Watch have been accusing the filthy murderous Syrian regime of systemic human rights abuses and atrocities on defenseless men, women and children for almost a year now but the moment they point the finger to the opposition MAJD notices. Seriously MAJD you are a smart man, a very smart man, a very very smart man really an extremely smart man and everyone respects your vast intellect, WOOHAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah right. The poor fellow.

March 20, 2012

ali daoud

Mehdi, you don`t need to assume where i live, i live among the shiites in Lebanon, and i never heard or seen or suspected about funerals of HA men killed in syria, add that, does the syrian army need HA help to crush such weak divided criminal opposition? the syrian army is much more stronger than that, get real guys and stop spreading naive propaganda which serves nothing but to discredit all your claims. any way, do you still believe your syrian terrorist heroes are fighting for freedom and democracy? today, for your bad luck guys, as always, Human Rights Watch stated that your syrian terrorist heroes have been engaged in systematic criminal acts of kidnapping, torturing, and prosecuting syrian security forces as well as pro regime civilians all with sectarian motives, Mabrouk to you Hanin GHADDAR and to all pro opposition guys in here, let`s see how many lines Hanin GHADDAR will write about the crimes and atrocities by the syrian terrorist opposition, and i am ready to send videos .

March 20, 2012

Mehdi

majd, you' must be a Shiite living amongst Shiites in the US or elsewhere outside Lebanon. If you were living amongst the Shiite in Lebanon, unless you're a shut-in with no outside contact whatsoever, you would've noticed the many monthly funerals in towns all over the South and the Bekaa for Hizbullah martyrs. Where were those martyrs killed, obviously not in Lebanon so it must be in a foreign war? Besides, Hizbullah is proud of these martyrs as it should I guess and its medias regularly cover the funerals and the speeches the party's officials give there.

March 20, 2012

Mick

Well written and arrives to the point. Really good article, I agree with most of what you have to say Hanin. Since the inception of this organisation, Hezbollah has not changed, its just we failed to see there true colours until now, during the Syrian revolution, the arab world has got a taste of what this group is really about. The heroic resistence against israel was and has always been a farce. There true intentions have become clear! Working overtime to strengthen the Iranian influence in the region. As you know, nothing comes for free these days, and to think lebanon was defended by lebanese patriots is definately a no. The other thing that bothers me is that the Syrian regime is exterminating its people in there thousands and hezbollah are helping them do it, with physical involvement. I have see many videos tricking out of Syria on youtube mentioning this fact. It ironic, that both hezbollah and israel prefer that the tyrant remain as the leader of Syria.

March 20, 2012

Hassan

To Oli and Majd; why should Hanin suggest how to defend Lebanon when it is very obvious we have several options and we all know it? Strong Lebanese military, forming treaties with other nations. (Excluding Iran) NATO is an example, or a Treaty with Israel. If what you want to hear is: only Hezbollah can; sorry to disappoint you, but Hezboallah or any militia of any religion or sect in not an option. Only Lebanese army. Kuwait couldn’t defend itself from Saddam. How did Syria defend itself when Israel bombed its nuclear facility? Let us just say that countries like Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan are good models for treaty and good examples of defending themselves.

March 20, 2012

Hassan

Very true, when Nasrallah made speeches few years back it was a big event and we all listened. However, I always listened with skepticism and doubts. Today I still listen but to pinpoint the lies and to assure myself that my doubts were true. I still read his speeches because they make me laugh more that the cartoon strips. Same applies to Aoun; he got real funny sayings. Nasrallah speeches becoming like an advertisement that the product Hezboallah is still in the market. Although I don’t believe in the Arab Spring, it exposed many leaders to their true intentions. Actually I am not sure why they call it Spring, the Artic creatures are living and doing better than us. I agree that Mikati is doing his best under these circumstances, yet, as for Jumblat, it is going to take more than a flag to forget that without changing his stance and his support to Hezboallah in the past, we woldn’t have had the existing government.

March 20, 2012

Joe Jones

This article is based on lies.. Do you live in Lebanon Hanin Ghaddar? Or are you getting your articles pre-written from abroad? This article is so wrong on so many levels. You are wrong.. so wrong. Wake up and smell the coffee!!!

March 20, 2012

Hep

Hanin Ghaddar seems to be very eager for Lebanon to become part of Greater Israel. Then defense strategy will not be needed.

March 20, 2012

samir

very good article and i believe that , well the game is OVER for Hezbollah

March 19, 2012

MMM

This is a polemic which far from represents the situation on the groun in reality... Now Lebanon is obviously opposed to Hezbollah and it is true they have struggled to come up with a consistent position on Syria that doesn't sit awkwardly with their cheering on of the Libyan, Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions.
I think what the author is really describing is the process by which Hezbollah have gone from being seemingly above politics to being little different to the rest of the self-interested political groups in the country. But that is not reason to believe they are finished. Just look at Walid Jumblatt!!!

March 19, 2012

ali daoud

@@@Oli, good question Oli, but sorry to tell, Hanin has no answer for you since she never cared to write an article about how - practically speaking - to defend Lebanon, however, Hanin always cared to undermine Hizbullah and to encourage all his opponents and to market all the claims of Israel, USA and the west, and i wonder why? i can accept that Hanin as any other person has the right to oppose HA, but when one never misses the opportunity to attack HA or Syria for reason or no reason, however, is it acceptable that the same Hanin never cared to write few lines about the atrocities and oppression made upon the truly peaceful unarmed Bahraini people?!!! why not writing one line about the israeli aggression and occupation? why not writing a line about the saudi regime? what about the states where the "Arab Spring" has won and the limitations on freedom over there? in brief,Hanin will never care to write about how to defend Lebanon because she`s not obsessed by israel and its occupation

March 19, 2012

Sami

It is sad when a news reporter becomes a future news forecaster, "although not technically(or factually) verified".

March 19, 2012

ali daoud

Hanin Ghaddar, you certainly live in another planet, i wonder how you fail to see that the regime in syria is winning the war and that he enjoys the support of strong nations in the world as well as the majority of its people. second, i understand you are careless about following Sayyed Hassan`s rare speeches, however, please let you not speak on behalf of others mainly the Shiites who believe that Sayyed Hassan is the synonym of pride, hope, sincerity and power. thirda, i wonder how you always bring out baseless claims about Hizbullah men being killed in Syria while we the Shia living among the Shia never noticed or heard such imagination in our c ommunity. fourth,you bring up silly statement by Azzam brigades, do you really believe Hanin that HA may ask Azzam Brigades to kill Jumblatt?!!! would a sane person or party hand such a secret to his adversary? Azzam Brigades always attacked HA and some people want us to believe that the same HA asked the same Brigades to do them a favor!!!!

March 19, 2012

The Truth

The hypocrisy of Huzb Allah continues mounting every day. An Islamic party that sells drugs and a resistance movement that kills Lebanese and Syrians in defense of arms and dictators.
@Phil: THe fact that it's been 1 year and the Syrian regime can't contain the revolution and thousands of soldiers have defected, large parts of the country have been taken by rebels and re-taken, and attacks are occurring in Damascus already means the Syrian regime is at its weakest in the history of its existence. Who would have guessed 13 or 14 months ago that all this would occur? Certainly not Huzb Allah or the Syrian dictatorship.

March 19, 2012

ali

Very short sighted analysis of the whole situation. It is true discription of what is happening if you are focusing only on the events w a magnifying loops which makes you lose the whole picture. This is our problem in Lebanon, we forget to look at the problem at hand in a global way. We think the struggle is between only who is directly involved. Unfortunately it is not. Also regarding hzb being w no flows. No one. But at least they did not drown the country in 50 billion dollars debts that me and children have to pay so that some hypocret enjoy the view from his high rise apartment on " rawseh" from the money he stoll from the herd. Anyhow. Eventually things will clear up and it is a matter of maybe 100 years before we can unfortunately have a country.

March 19, 2012

Geo M

To the point as usual, Hanin. Now, what will Hezbollah set for itself, as a course of action? Stay on this path of grinding erosion and eventual slow death? Divert towards the now lost enemy, Israel, (yes, no more friends, and no more enemies either >> bad situation!) which none amongst tens of millions of Arab rioters cared to mention? (focusing instead on their real enemies: their own leaders/ ruling class) Wont that only hasten the deadline to paradise? Well, i wouldn't wanna be a Hezbollah supporter either, today. I'd have to leave.... and go nowhere.

March 19, 2012

Olig

I believe this is a great article and statement of facts in the past year of Hezbollah's bad role inside the country. But my only question to you Hanin and anyone attacking Hezbollah and wanting it to crumble, who are we going to defend Lebanon from Israel this is my only concern or what are your alternatives for a resistance or defense strategy. is arming the army enough? is having hezbollah as a legion part of the army an option?

March 19, 2012

Phil؟

Good article Hanin, although I doubt the Syrian regime is in any way "crumbling".

March 19, 2012

Mehdi

"reports of Hezbollah fighters’ bodies being returned from doing battle in Syria over the past few months, although not technically verified till now".. but watching Al-Manar News on any given night makes one wonder. They almost nightly feature a Hezballah MP or official speaking at what they call a funeral for a martyr in town xyz. We're not in an active war with anyone at the present time so where are those martyrs falling? It's safe to say they are getting themselves killed in a foreign land making those martyrs in fact mercenaries.
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